Pancho Vladigerov - Orchestral Works (Horia Andreescu)

Information

Composer: Pancho Vladigerov

• (01) Bulgarian Rhapsody, Op. 16 "Vardar" (version for orchestra)
• (02) Traumspielsuite
• (08) 7 Symphonic Bulgarian Dances, Op. 23

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

Horia Andreescu, conductor

Date: 2007

Label: cpo

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Pancho-Vladigerov-1899-1978-Orchesterwerke/hnum/2727174

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Review

Three enchanting works by a neglected Eastern European

Despite his Mexican-sounding first name and Swiss birth, Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978) was Bulgarian through and through. Largely forgotten outside his native country today, his name was well known in Central Europe in the 1920s, not least through his collaboration with theatre director Max Reinhardt. His position in Bulgarian music is roughly akin to that of Enescu in Romania or Grieg in Norway.

As a composer, Vladigerov may not have been their equal, but he was a fine melodist and sumptuous orchestrator. Symphonic rigour was not his forte – as Eckhardt van den Hoogen’s somewhat eccentric booklet-note avers – but the music is attractive and well written, as confirmed by his best-known work, the rhapsody Vardar (1922), a kaleidoscopic portrait of the great Balkan river. Originally a violin-and-piano duo for himself to play with twin brother Liuben, Vardar exists in versions for violin and orchestra, piano (solo, duet and duo) and – given here – full orchestra (1928).

Vladigerov embraced many styles within a late romantic-nationalist idiom, as can be heard vividly in the suite drawn from his music to Strindberg’s A Dream Play (a Reinhardt production) where impressionism, Balkan folk and Nordic lyricism amiably rub shoulders. Finest of all, though, are the Seven Bulgarian Symphonic Dances (1931), collectively a rich panoply of his homeland’s folk heritage that gets better and better with each hearing. Superb performances from Berlin – where the composer lived and worked for almost 20 years – under (Romanian) Andreescu’s sympathetic direction. Lovers of Bax or early Havergal Brian should not hesitate.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

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Pancho Vladigerov (13 March 1899 – 8 September 1978) was a Bulgarian composer, pedagogue and pianist. He is arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time, and was one of the first to successfully combine Bulgarian folk music and classical music. Vladigerov marked the beginning of a number of genres in Bulgarian music, including violin sonata and piano trio. He was also a very respected pedagogue; his students include practically all notable Bulgarian composers of the next generation, such as Alexander Raichev, Alexander Yossifov, Stefan Remenkov, and many others, as well as the pianist Alexis Weissenberg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancho_Vladigerov
https://vladigerov.org/en/

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Horia Andreeescu (born 18 October 1946, Brașov) is a Romanian conductor. Principal conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, and founder and conductor of the Virtuosi of Bucharest Chamber Orchestra, Andreescu has led the Bucharest National Radio Orchestra as artistic director for 18 years. He has recorded over 900 works for broadcast in Romania and abroad, and has made over 60 commercial recordings for various companies, including Naxos, RCA Red Seal, cpo, Hastedt, Electrecord and Casa Radio, among others. His 7 CDs of George Enescu’s orchestral works won particular praise.

https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horia_Andreescu

http://www.naxos.com/person/Horia_Andreescu/32356.htm

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